Attachment for cranes



Aug. 29, 1950 P. G, MERCE 2,520,431

ATTACHIAENT FOR CRANES FilBd OCT.. 2, 1945 INVENTOR. P. c., PIERCEATTORNEY Patented Aug. 29, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFCE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to article handling and more particularly to anattachment for a conventional portable lioor crane to facilitate liftingobjects, such as vehicle engines and the like to which access from aboveby a hanging crane or other lifting device cannot readily be had.

Heretofore the removal and replacement of engines in vehicles, such asautomobiles, certain types of trucks, and busses has been a difficultand time consummming task due to the fact that, particularly in trucksand busses, the engines are very frequently located beneath permanentparts of the body structure, in which case vertical removal of theengine is impossible. It has, therefore, been necessary in some casesfirst to lift the engine vertically a slight amount and then move thesame laterally on planks or other supporting members to a position suchthat the engine may be raised vertically, the supports and obstructionstherebeneath removed and the engine lowered to the floor for removalfrom beneath the vehicle. In the case of automobiles having a modernalligator type hood, it is necessary to remove the entire hood structurebefore the engine can conveniently be lifted out of the vehicle.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide anattachment for a conventional portable floor crane or the like, whichfacilitates the application of an upward lifting force to an objectlocated beneath more or less permanent obstructions and the subsequentremoval of the object from under the obstructions by movement of theentire crane structure.

It is another object of this invention to provide a lifting barattachment for a crane which may be easily constructed from parts andmaterials commonly found in a garage.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an attachmentfor a conventional portable crane which comprises an extending boom orlifting bar adapted to be inserted within confined spaces over an objectto be lifted and to lift and remove the same therefrom by upward andlateral movement of said boom.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the boom or lifting bar of this inventionapplied to a conventional portable crane;

Fig. 2, a view in perspective showing the detailed construction of theboom or lifting bar and the manner of attachment to the crane;

Fig. 3, a detail of one form of a work engaging hook which may beapplied to the boom or lifting bar; and

Fig. 4, a fragmentary detail of the bar or boom illustrating itsconstructionand the manner of spacing the elements thereof.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a conventionalportable floor crane comprising a U-shaped base lll, an upstandingskeleton frame work Il, secured at its lower end to the base andterminating at its upper end in a portion l2 overhanging the base.

Mounted for rotation on the upstanding frame Work il is a winding druml2 provided with `a worm wheel I3. Meshing with the worm wheel E3 is aworm ifi mounted on a shaft journalled in bearings on the frame work Il,the shaft being provided with a hand wheel I5 and crank i8, whereby uponrotation of said hand wheel and crank the winding drum l2 will berotated and when at rest will be held against rotation by the engagementof said worm and worm wheel, Wrapped around the winding drum l2 is acable El' which extends upwardly within the frame work E l and overguide pulleys such as I8 to the overhanging end l2 of the frame Il.Within the overhanging end l2 there is provided a pulley, not shown,over which the cable Il is trained, the cable then passing aroundanother pulley I9 and upwardly where it is fixed to the overhanging endl2 of the frame Il. The pulley iii is provided with a swivel hook 2Bwhich may engage objects to be lifted or the boom of the presentinvention.

The base III of the portable crane may be provided with Wheels 2lrotatably mounted thereon and a single steerable wheel 22 may bepivotally mounted on the bottom of the frame l l, a, tongue or tow bar23 secured to the wheel 22 being provided for facilitating steering andmovement of the crane.

The structure above described represents a conventional portable noorcrane now in use in garages, shops and the like and it can readily beseen that such a, crane, while very efhcient for lifting objects towhich access may be had from above, provides no means whereby objectslocated beneath obstructions may be conveniently lifted and removed frombeneath said obstructions.

The above description has been given with a view to facilitating abetter understanding of the construction and operation of the deviceforming this invention, and which is particularly designed to be appliedto a crane of this type.

In order to utilize a crane of the type den scribed above in lifting andremoving objects such as vehicle engines and the like from be neathobstructions, there is provided a bar or boom, indicated generally at24, which is adjustably mounted on the upstanding frame Il of the craneand extends outwardly therefrom a sufficient distance to be insertedbeneath an obstruction and engage a vehicle engine or the like to beremoved therefrom. The lifting bar or boom is fabricated from two anglebars 25 of sucient strength to withstand the intended loads, the barsbeing positioned with two flanges thereof in the same horizontal planeand with the upstanding flanges facing each other and spaced apart byhollow spacers 26, a sufficient number of which are provided to give thestructure the required strength and rigidity. Passing through aperturesin the upstanding flanges and the hollow spacers 29 are bolts 2l'secured in place by nuts 29 threadedly received thereon which serve toclamp the angle bars 25 rigidly together.

In order to properly engage the object to be lifted, there is provided ahook 29 swivelled in a U-shaped bracket 39, there being aperturesprovided in the arms of the bracket 39 through which bolt 3l passes topivotally mount the hook 29 and bracket 39 at the outer end of the baror boom 24.

Since various objects to be lifted thereby may be located at differentheights above the iloor, means is provided for adjustably mounting thebar or boom 2li on the upright frame il and this means may convenientlytake the form of two plates 92, one on each side of the frame ll andbolts 33 and 943 extending through the plates to clamp them securely inplace on the frame i l. The plates 32 may be provided with strengtheningribs 39. The bar or boom 2li is pivotally mounted on the plates 32 bypassing the forward bolt 3d through apertures .'59 in the upstandingilanges of the bar. If necessary, cutaway portions 3l' may be providedin the horizontal anges of the bar 2d to provide necessary clearance forupward and downward pivotal movement thereof.

In order to attach the lifting hook 29 of the crane to the boom or bar2d, there is provided midway thereof a through bolt and spacer 39 whichmay be identical with the bolt and spacer 26 and 2l, the hook 29 beingmerely engaged around the spacer 33 to support the bar 2d from the cableIl.

In operation, it is only necessary to clamp the plates 32 on the uprightportion yll of the crane at the desired height, after which the crane,together with the bar 2li, may be moved adjacent the object to be liftedwith the bar 2li extending beneath any overhead obstruction and the hoek29 engaging the object to be lifted or a sling applied thereto. rIhecrank i6 is then actuated to wind up the cable lll and raise the khoek29, thus lifting bar 24 and the object attached to hook 29. When theObject has been raised a sufficient distance, the crane with the ObjectsuspendedV therefrom may be moved a suiiicient distance for the objectto clear any obstruction and thereafter to any desired location in theshop.

It will be seen from the abeve descriptionthat there is provided by thisinvention a relatively simple structure w i may be easily manufacturedirc-m parte andY materials readily available around the ordinary garageor shop and which may be app n. crane at will and v-.fhich Vwill readilyfacilitate the use ci a crane in the removal or installation of vehicleengines or other objects which must be handled beneath overheadobstructions.

1t will be obvious to these skilled in` the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope tcer rerncved a conventional vtheir horizontal danges in substantially thesame plane and their vertical flanges spaced from each other, aplurality of spacing sleeves located at spaced points along the lengthof said Vertical flanges, bolts passing through said vertical anges andsaid sleeves, nuts on said bolts securing said angle bars together toform a rigid fabricated structure, a work engaging swivelled hook havinga U-shaped bracket, apertures in each leg of said bracket, one of saidclamping bolts passirig through said apertures to pivctally mount saidbracket and hence said hook on said boom adjacent one end thereof,apertures in said vertical anges adjacent the opposite end of said boom,clamping plates having longitudinal strengthening ribs thereonconstructed and arranged to engage the sides of the crane structure,clamping bolts passing through apertures in said plates whereby platesmay be clamped in any desired vertical position on said crane structure,one of said clamping bolts passing through the apertures in saidvertical ianges whereby said boom is pivcftally mounted on said cranestructure, and means comprising one of said spacers and angle barsecuring bolts engaging the lifting hook of said crane whereby upwardand downward pivotal movement of said bcorn may be obtained by actuationcf the lifting mechanism of said crane.

2. An attachment for a portable crane comprising'an elongated boompivotally mounted on said crane fcr movement in a vertical plane, saidboom comprising two paralle bars spaced from each other, a plurality ofspacing sleeves located at spaced peints along the length of said bars,bolts passing through said bars and said sleeves to form a rigidfabricated structure, a work engaging swivelled hook having a U -shapedbracket, apertures in each leg of said 'bracket one of said clampingbelts passing through said apertures to pivctally mount said hook onsaid boem against one end thereof, adjustable means .pivotally mcuntingsaid boom cn the crane structure and arranged to be secured at anydesired vertical position, and means en said boom engaging the liftinghoek cf said crane whereby upward and downward pivotal movement of saidboom may be obtained by actuation of the lifting mechanism of saidcrane.

PRESTON G. PIERCE.

REFERENCES CITED rihe following references are of record in the le ofthis pat-ent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Nar-.ie Date 549,088 Clancy et al Sept. 19,1895 1,229,597 Parker June 12, 1917 1,230,560 Cantwell Oct. 8, 19181,413,376 Morgan et al Jan. 30, 1923 1,489,151 Schuchert Apn 1, 19241,566,827 Chilson Dec. 22, 1925 2,382,054 Hercik Aug, 14, 1945 2,419,813Berchtold Apr. 29, 1947

